Favorite Schools

Favorite Teams

Greater New Orleans

Change Region

comments

Construction of The Crest in downtown Baton Rouge might finally have an end in sight

the crest galvez stage

Scaffolding still encapsulates The Crest, the architectural sculpture that overhangs the Galvez Stage in Baton Rouge. Downtown Development District representatives expect to officially unveil the sculpture on Sept. 4, 2013 with the first fall edition of Live After Five. (Photo by Chelsea Brasted, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

Downtown Baton Rouge's new public art feature might finally be unveiled in September after a handful of construction difficulties delayed the finish date by weeks at a time, according to Downtown Development District representatives. The Crest, a large steel public art structure, should be ready for the first Live After Five fall event on Sept. 4.

"They're waiting on a few extra cladding pieces, which is basically the skin," said Gabe Vicknair, assistant executive director with the DDD. "It'll … be done roughly on or near Aug. 15. The scaffolding should come down about 10 days later, then at that point it'll be complete."

The DDD originally announced the sculpture's construction in late November 2012, and work was supposed to be complete in February 2013.

The delays began when a piece to complete the canopy didn't fit in its place, which caused its return to the factory in Kansas City, Missouri, where it was fabricated.

"We had to attempt a few times to get it fit and fabricated," Vicknair said. "With that piece in place, we need to do the additional cladding to finish off the skin that needed to be installed, and we couldn't do that until the last piece fit properly."

Now, however, with the final piece in place there shouldn't be any more possible delays, Vicknair said.

All that remains is the final adhering of the steel cladding, which gives the structure its shiny look, and the addition of the truss system, which will allow lighting and sound elements to be installed for various performances. There will also be a kind of temporary canopy covering for performances to protect the stage from bad weather, Vicknair said.

Several performances so far have been moved despite having originally being scheduled to take place on the Galvez Plaza stage. The Baton Rouge Blues Festival, for example, built a stage directly in front of the space and last spring's Live After Five events took place elsewhere in Town Square.

The structure was funded by sales tax rebates on hotels and motels in the parish designated for riverfront improvements, but the bottom line isn't affected by the past delays, Vicknair said.

"There's no increase in cost, just an increase in time for installation," Vicknair said.